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SC-1 Special Election Breakdown

by: AppleCon

Mon Feb 18, 2013 at 18:23:04 PM EST


Yet again we have another crowded special election. This is a pretty safe Republican seat. The primary will be held on March 19th and the run-off is on April 2nd.

Here are the candidates:

As you can see some of these candidates have no political experience. Others have very little local experience. I prefere a state legislator. Why? Because they have a voting record. Without one, how do we know how they truly stand on the issues? In addition, a state legislator is much like a congressman. As a state legislator, they have been tested. City Councilman is also acceptable. So here are the candidates with legislative experience:

  1. Curtis Bostic, former Charleston County Councilman
  2. Larry Grooms, State Senator
  3. John Kuhn, former State Senator
  4. Chip Limehouse, State Representative
  5. Peter McCoy, State Representative
  6. Andy Patrick, State Representative
  7. Mark Sanford, former U.S. Representative

Ok so now we have 7 candidates. That's a lot. Let's start with cutting off the opportunists who just got elected in 2010 or 2012.

  1. Curtis Bostic, former Charleston County Councilman
  2. Larry Grooms, State Senator
  3. John Kuhn, former State Senator
  4. Chip Limehouse, State Representative
  5. Mark Sanford, former U.S. Representative

Next, let's eliminate the candidates that have lost re-election.

  1. Larry Grooms, State Senator
  2. Chip Limehouse, State Representative
  3. Mark Sanford, former U.S. Representative

Great. So now we have three candidates. Sanford previously represented this district from 1995-2003. So should we forgive Sanford for the affair? Or how about I ask a better question: Should we put a former U.S. Congressman, who has already served four terms in the HOR, back into a broken system? I say no. We need fresh faces. Not to mention, I don't forgive Sanford. After all, he was my favorite for president before the affair. Not to mention, the affair was pretty embarrasing.

So now we have 2 left: Limehouse (1995-Present) and Grooms (1997-Present). Grooms has represented a state senate district, which is about 100,000 people. Limehouse has represented a state house district, which is about 37,000 people. So Grooms has the edge there. What about their backgrounds? Grooms was CEO of an oil company, while Limehouse was a real estate agent. I think Grooms has the upper hand because he ran a company. I think I'll endorse Grooms.
AppleCon :: SC-1 Special Election Breakdown
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SC-1 Special Election Breakdown | 14 comments
I generally like your criteria
But I don't think we can dismiss people elected in 2010 as opportunists.  Remember, it's possible this is their only chance to move up.  The next SC-1 congressman could potentially stay for 20 or 30 years.

Age 20, CA-18 (home), CA-13 (college)

Check out my blog at politicohen.com

Berkeley Class of 2015.
Thanks
I feel more comfortable with elected officials that have at least 2 full terms of a voting record.

Male, PA-15, Libertarian leaning-Republican
[ Parent ]
Bostic
I know he lost his Charleston County Council seat in '08 (it was a bad year for Republicans and he was up against Democrat Vic Rawl who was well-known for having served in elected office) but I think he still is a contender for the runoff. I think I remember reading that he's wealthy and he also has military experience in addition to having been an elected official. My preferred candidate is probably Grooms. His experience is impressive and he has been endorsed by Congressman Mick Mulvaney who is very conservative. How much of a contender for the runoff is Bostic?
Bostic is a contender
As I've previously said, Sanford is likely to get a runoff spot, the race is for the other spot. Grooms/Turner/Limehouse/Bostic/McCoy/and Patrick I would place as in the hunt for the runoff. Bostic is in that mix. He has the ability to partly self fund, can and has raised good money, has put together a solid campaign so far, and is one of Tim Scott's close friends.

SC1-Charleston
[ Parent ]
Limehouse/Grooms
Limehouse is one of the owners of a large family real estate company that employs approx. 45 people, he's not a real estate agent in that sense.  

SC1-Charleston
Club for Growth Scorecard

Here is another factor. In 2012, Limehouse received an "F" rating from the SC Club for Growth, while Grooms got a B. In 2011, Limehouse got a D, while Grooms also got a D. In the 2009-2010 session, Limehouse got a D, while Grooms got a C. Back in the 2007-2008 session, Limehouse got a C, while Grooms got an A+!

There is clearly a difference between Limehouse and Grooms. It's pretty clear Grooms is more conservative.



Male, PA-15, Libertarian leaning-Republican
Grooms
It's hard to forgive him for pushing that D-friendly redistricting proposal. I'd still vote for him against Sanford but that's a disqualifier for me in the first round.

R, MA-7/MD-7/moving to WV-1
[ Parent ]
Grooms wanted the lowcountry 7th
versus the Horry/Pee Dee 7th in order to run for the seat. All of Berkeley would have been contained in his version of the 7th versus it split between 1 and 6 in the version that passed.

SC1-Charleston
[ Parent ]
How D-friendly?
It can't be that D-friendly. I'm sure it was still a Republican-leaning map overall.

Male, PA-15, Libertarian leaning-Republican
[ Parent ]
Grooms is marginally more conservative
Limehouse is one of Speaker Harrell's closest allies in the legislature is vice chair of Ways and Means. He is very much an establishmnet Republican. I have no doubt he would have a mainstream conservative voting record in the US House. Grooms has more of an activist base and is more vocal on social issues. He carries the Tea Party mantle. The difference between the two may be a 95 and 98 ACU rating though.

SC1-Charleston
[ Parent ]
Candidates Forum
I posted this yesterday from this weekends FreedomWorks Forum. All 16 candidates participated. You can go the 10:45 minute mark to hear each candidates opening statement and the 1 hour and 40 mark to here closing statements from each candidate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?a...

SC1-Charleston
Could even Sanford lose this district
in the general?  Charleston and Hilton Head is somewhat more moderate than the rest of the state, but Obama got just 40% here, so that's a pretty large lift for a Democrat in the general, especially in the South.

Christie 2016  
Politico: Colbert Busch donated to Sanford in 2001
http://www.politico.com/story/...

23, MA-07, Rockefeller Republican. Christie-Martinez in 2016. Visit me at http://twitter.com/polibeast
Sanford is wise to remain quiet
If she's confronted on this, it just gives her more reason to say "Yeah, I used to think he was okay like everyone else...but I was wrong when everything changed!"
[ Parent ]
SC-1 Special Election Breakdown | 14 comments
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Elections have consequences -- from the race for President to the race for one seat on a city council. The political economist Max Weber wrote that the state possesses a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. But in the United States, the state is divided into myriad federal, state, and local entities. And the elections to fill those entities are the products of the fascinating interactions between campaigns, party affiliations, voter turnout, and the media spotlight. Red Racing Horses analyzes those elections -- from a Republican-leaning perspective -- to keep a close eye on the process of electing officials, and to offer our perspective on the election-related issues of the day. Thank you for visiting, and we hope you'll enjoy the blog.

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